What Happens When You Inherit a House in Los Angeles
Inheriting a house in Los Angeles usually arrives at the worst possible time. You are grieving, there is paperwork you have never seen before, and the house itself does not stop costing money while everyone figures out what to do. This guide walks through what actually happens, in the order it tends to happen, so you know which decisions are urgent and which can wait.
The first 30 days: protect the house before anything else
Nothing legal has to be decided in the first few weeks, but a few practical things do:
- Secure it. Change or rekey the locks, take photos of every room, and remove valuables and important papers to a safe place. Vacant homes in Los Angeles attract break-ins and squatters faster than most families expect.
- Call the insurance company. Many homeowners policies limit coverage once a house has been vacant for 30 to 60 days. Tell the insurer the owner has passed away and ask whether you need a vacancy endorsement or a separate vacant-home policy.
- Keep the utilities on at a basic level, forward the mail, and keep paying the mortgage, property tax and HOA dues if there are any. Missed payments create late fees and liens that come out of everyone’s share later.
- Do not sell, clear out or rent the house yet. Until it is clear who has legal authority over the property, nobody can sign a sale, and giving away contents can cause disputes between heirs.
Step 1: Find out how the house was held
How the title was set up decides almost everything that follows: whether a court is involved, how long it takes, and who can sign. Pull the latest recorded deed (the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder in Norwalk keeps them) and look at how the owner held title.
- Living trust. If the deed is in the name of a trust, the successor trustee named in the trust takes over. No court is needed, and a sale can often happen within weeks.
- Joint tenancy or community property with right of survivorship. The surviving owner records an affidavit of death with a certified death certificate, and the house passes to them outside probate.
- Revocable transfer on death deed. California allows a TOD deed for real estate. The named beneficiary records the required affidavit and takes title without probate, although there are notice and waiting rules that matter if creditors exist.
- A will, or no will at all. If the house was in the owner’s name alone, it usually has to go through probate, either following the will or, without one, California’s intestate succession rules.
There are shortcuts for smaller estates. For deaths on or after April 1, 2025, estates worth $208,850 or less can often avoid full probate, and a primary residence worth up to $750,000 may pass through a simpler court petition instead of a full probate case. With Los Angeles home values, many houses are above these limits, so most families should expect probate if there was no trust.
Step 2: If the house goes through probate in Los Angeles County
Probate cases for Los Angeles County are handled by the Superior Court, and a typical case takes roughly 9 to 18 months, longer if heirs disagree or the court calendar is backed up. The court appoints an executor (or an administrator if there is no will), and that person is the only one who can sign a sale.
Two details shape how a probate sale works:
- Full or limited authority. With full authority under the Independent Administration of Estates Act, the executor can sell after giving heirs a Notice of Proposed Action, without a court hearing. With limited authority, the sale must be confirmed by a judge.
- Court confirmation and overbidding. When a judge confirms a sale, other buyers can show up and overbid in the courtroom. The first overbid must be at least 10% of the first $10,000 of the accepted price plus 5% of the rest, which is why confirmed sales take longer and are less predictable.
Probate also has a cost. California sets statutory fees for both the executor and the estate’s attorney: 4% of the first $100,000 of the estate’s gross value, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000 and 1% of the next $9 million. On a $900,000 house that works out to about $21,000 for the executor and another $21,000 for the attorney, before court costs. Our guide to how probate court works in Los Angeles County covers the filings and hearings in more detail.
Step 3: Property taxes and Proposition 19
Many Los Angeles homes inherited today were bought decades ago and still carry a low Proposition 13 tax base. Since Proposition 19 took effect in February 2021, that low base only carries over in limited cases:
- The house must have been the parent’s (or grandparent’s) primary residence, and the child must move in and make it their own primary residence within one year.
- Even then, the protection is capped. For transfers from February 16, 2025 through February 15, 2027, the old tax base carries over only if the market value is no more than the old assessed value plus $1,044,586. Anything above that is added to the new tax base.
- If no heir moves in, for example because the house will be rented out or sits empty, it is reassessed at current market value.
The difference can be large. A house your parents bought in the 1980s might carry an assessed value around $150,000 and a property tax bill around $2,000 a year. Reassessed at a $1.2 million market value, the bill in most of Los Angeles would land somewhere around $13,000 to $15,000 a year. If you plan to move in, file the parent-child exclusion claim with the Los Angeles County Assessor promptly and ask about the homeowners’ exemption at the same time.
Step 4: Mortgages, reverse mortgages and liens
An existing mortgage does not disappear when the owner dies, but lenders generally cannot call the loan due just because the house passed to a relative under federal law, so heirs who keep paying can usually keep the loan in place while the estate is settled.
A reverse mortgage works differently and has a clock on it. After the lender sends a due and payable notice, heirs typically get about six months to sell, with up to two 90-day extensions if they are actively working on a sale. Heirs who want to keep the house can pay off the lesser of the loan balance or 95% of the appraised value. If you find a reverse mortgage, call the servicer early and get the deadlines in writing.
Also check for unpaid property taxes, code enforcement liens from the City of Los Angeles or the county, and any home equity lines. These are paid out of the sale proceeds in escrow, but they affect what each heir actually receives.
Step 5: Capital gains and the step-up in basis
One piece of good news: inherited homes usually get a “step-up” in tax basis to the market value on the date of death. If your parents paid $180,000 in 1986 and the house was worth $1.1 million when they passed, your basis is $1.1 million, not $180,000. If the estate sells for $1.12 million, the taxable gain is roughly $20,000 minus selling costs, and it is treated as long-term automatically.
Because of this, selling an inherited house sooner often means little or no capital gains tax, while holding it for years and selling after more appreciation means paying tax on that later growth. A CPA can confirm the numbers for your situation; ask for a date-of-death appraisal early, because you will need it either way.
Step 6: Decide whether to keep, rent or sell
Once you know who has authority, what the tax bill will be and what is owed, the decision usually becomes clearer:
- Keep and move in makes the most sense when one heir wants to live there and can keep the Prop 19 tax base, and the other heirs can be bought out fairly.
- Rent it out means a reassessed tax bill, Los Angeles tenant rules, and someone in the family managing the property.
- Sell is the most common path when several siblings share the house, when it needs major work, or when nobody lives nearby. You can list it with an agent, sell it as-is to a cash buyer, or combine the two by getting a cash offer as a baseline before you list.
We compare those routes in detail in your three main options for selling an inherited house in Los Angeles, and if speed matters, how a cash sale works for inherited property.
Common questions
Can I sell the house before probate is finished?
Yes, once the court has appointed the executor and issued letters. With full IAEA authority the executor can sell without a court hearing; with limited authority the sale needs court confirmation.
What if my siblings and I disagree about selling?
The executor or trustee makes the decision, but heirs can object. If co-owners who already hold title cannot agree, any of them can ask the court for a partition sale, which is slow and expensive, so most families settle on a buyout or a sale before it gets that far.
Do I have to clean out the house before selling?
Not if you sell as-is. Many inherited homes are sold with furniture and belongings still inside, and the buyer handles the cleanout.
Talk it through with us
If you have inherited a house in Los Angeles and want to know what it is worth as-is, or what a cash offer would look like next to a listing, call us at (424) 435-2326 or request a no-obligation offer online. We work with executors, trustees and families every week, and we are happy to explain the numbers even if you decide to list.